Lead Me Home
by Took-Baggins
Summary: A collection of one-shots mostly featuring Hiccup and Toothless, but including other characters as well. Named for the first chapter.
1. Lead Me Home

**Oh good grief, Took's left the FMA secton...She also speaking in third person. Odd.**

**I wish I could say I own all this, but...no. I don't all know this.**

* * *

He ran. Where he was going, he didn't know, but it was dark and it was scary and Hiccup was running with every bit of strength that his small body could muster. In the back of his mind he knew he should have listened; he should have stayed away from the forest or at least kept in sight of the village, but there was so much to see and do and experience that his seven-year-old mind had forgotten the warnings almost as soon as he'd heard them.

Now, with night already fallen and his path lost in the inky darkness he didn't know what else to do. There were more noises here than there were in the village. Things were moving and rustling and slithering all around him, constantly startling him and causing him to stumble. There was no moon tonight, no light leaking through the trees from the village, nothing.

A raised root snagged his foot. Blindly he crashed into a shrub and yelped, somersaulting to land flat on his back. Breathless and stunned, he lay staring upward. The wind blew, rattling the canopy far above him. His breathing slowed and the silence around him grew. No moving or slithering indicated anything coming to grab him while he was down.

Hiccup was not a good Viking, no matter how much he tried to be. There, as he lay on the forest floor completely alone, he did one of the Vikings rarely ever did.

He cried.

Not loudly, not with the painful sobs he felt like voicing, but small silent tears that slid from his eyes and dripped into his ears. He was afraid to break the silence. Noise would give away his position and bring whatever was out there right to him. All he allowed himself to do was silently vent his fear the only way he could think of.

It felt like hours. His vision might have been blurred by his tears, he honestly couldn't tell. Slowly he began to see shapes in the emptiness above his head. There were two of them, round and pale, hanging motionlessly over him. He puzzled over them for several moments before it ocurred to him that these things should frighten him as everything else had.

Somehow, they didn't. Hiccup watched, his tears drying unnoticed on his face as they suddenly disappeared and showed themselves again a second later. _Those are...they look like eyes..._The thought formed only vaguely in the back of his mind before fading away altogether as the things began to move. Slowly, they drifted toward what Hiccup knew to be the ground. Once they had stopped again the boy shifted and pushed himself into a sitting position. He stared at them.

They stared back.

_What's it doing?_ Hiccup tilted his head. The things shifted and tilted together, as if mimicking him. Suddenly the things moved toward him. Unable to help himself, he jerked in surprise as the things disappeared and he felt the presence of something very large move uncomfortably close to him. A puff of air ghosted across his forehead and an odd purring sound rumbled through the darkness next to him. The things reappeared right in front of his face, causing Hiccup to give another startled jerk.

The instant Hiccup made the movement, the thing dropped and shoved him, knocking him unsteadily to his feet. Hiccup gave a small yelp as he suddenly felt movement against his side. The thing was touching him. He could feel it wriggling against him until it had managed to get its head - yes, he was sure that's what it was - beneath Hiccup's hand. He felt something thick and flexible against his palm and wrapped his fingers around it curiously. At the contact the thing pulled at him. Hiccup didn't move. The thing pulled harder, more insistently, and almost dragged Hiccup off his feet.

"Okay," he whispered into the darkness. The thing pulled again and this time He moved with it. The uneven ground caused Hiccup to stumble a few times, but the thing moved almost silently. The only sound besides Hiccup's own nervous gasps was a deep, airy pulse_. I can hear this thing breathing, it must be huge...I wonder where it's taking me?_ Hiccup didn't dare make more noise than necessary. He was filled with a kind of excitement. The reason he had gotten lost in the forest in the first place was because he had wanted to explore, to see new and unknown things. One of those things was with him now, leading him who-knew-where. He wasn't afraid or nervous. He was fine.

The thing stopped suddenly, and Hiccup walked right into it. It didn't seem to notice and Hiccup looked around, wondering why they had stopped. Light. There was a light up ahead and the steady, comforting roar of the ocean. He stared ahead through the trees, at the little houses and pathways he knew so well.

He was home.

The thing was gone. Hiccup hadn't felt it move, just realized suddenly that it was no longer there. Something flooded through him, disappointment he thought, and he turned to sweep his gaze over the darkness of the forest. The sky in the east was beginning to pale, and in the feeble half-light he could just barely make out a shape among the trunks. It was darker than everything around it and blended in perfectly. The pale things, the eyes, were staring at him again. He took a step toward it, his mouth opening as he suddenly wanted to speak to it.

"Hiccup!" The voice of his mother cut through every other thought in the boy's head, and he turned away from the forest. His mother was threading her way through the trees toward him. He ran to meet her and the night slipped from his mind.

----------

Hiccup awoke to the tickling sensation that came with having someone close to him but not quite touching him. A snort sounded and a puff of warm air caught him full in the face. He opened one eye to see Toothless looking down at him, apparently amusing himself with blowing his human's hair into his eyes to see if he'd wake up. Hiccup closed his eyes again before he thought the dragon noticed. He lay still for several minutes, just in case Toothless suspected he was awake, before popping both eyes open and wrapping his arms around the dragon's snout. Toothless gave a grunt of surprise and shook him off, scowling.

"Aw, come on! " Hiccup called, but Toothless went and sat away from him, glaring back at his human for ruining his fun. When Hiccup began to climb to his feet Toothless moved again, settling under the thick canopy of a conifer and hiding sourly in the tree's shade. "Now really, you can't expect to sneak up on me all the time without me getting you back once in a while, right?" The dragon wouldn't look at him. With a sigh Hiccup walked toward him, slowing to a stop a few feet from the tree. Toothless glanced at him and, seeing his human with a furrowed brow, turned fully toward him. Hiccup could read the question plainly on his face: _What is it?_

Something about the way Toothless disappeared in the shade, and now the way the dragon was gazing at him curiously stirred in Hiccup's mind. It was familiar. He wondered over it for a moment before pushing it away. "Nothing. It's nothing, buddy." He smiled and ran to his dragon, raising his hands to touch his dark face as he pushed the half-forgotten memory of his childhood to the back of his mind.

* * *

**MAN am I excited to finally be posting something on here! So...who saw it coming? Hands up! Everyone? Aw...**

**This ended up being a bit longer than I had initially planned and I think it stands alone well enough. It is a one-shot, after all. As I'm working on my other chaptered fic I'll probably have things like this occasionally. Also, if anyone has a good prompt I'll probably do that and put it up here too. I guess...there will be more chapters. Eventually. Either here or separately. Feel free to make suggestions.**

**Thank you for reading, everyone. ^_^ **


	2. Snow

********

**A/N: Well, here I am again having survived the epic battle that is the end of the semester and my undergraduate career! I made it, but barely. ;)**

**My apologies for taking so long. I didn't mean to. Before we get to this chapter I have an announcement to make. While cleaning my room yesterday I happened across a list of the 52 Flavors themes. I started writing it once for Fullmetal Alchemist, but lost my notebook and never finished. I think I'm going to use those themes to write pieces for this collection. In addition to that, if anyone have a request or prompt for me, I'll work that in too.**

**I'm also working on a multi-chaptered fic tentatively titled _Taken_. Updates will alternate between this and that throughout the summer. There's no set sechedule, things are updated as I get them finished. Sorry.**

**Well, now that I've said all that, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. ^_^**

**

* * *

**

"Well...we won't be going anywhere for a few days, buddy." Hiccup sighed and pulled away from the crack of the door, fat snowflakes melting across one side of his freckled face. "You can see maybe three, four feet in front of you. Everything's buried." He frowned unhappily at the sudden turn of the weather. Toothless, on the other hand, didn't mind it in the least. Waiting out a blizzard next to a warm fire was definitely preferable to trying to find shelter under the trees of the forest. If he had to stay shut up for a few days with his best friend, all the better.

"I hope Dad and Astrid aren't out in this." Hiccup paced slowly across the room and bent to stoke the dying fire, Toothless following behind him to curl up close to the flames. _'Oh, the others. That's right.' _The dragon tended to forget about them sometimes, if they weren't nearby or being looked for. He liked them both, of course, but didn't concern himself with them the way his human did.

Bursts of sparks shot up the chimney as Hiccup stirred the logs and added a couple of new ones. Slowly the flames were rekindled and the room glowed with a soft, cozy light. Satisfied, the boy straightened and stepped over to Toothless, a slight tilt in his balance affecting the movement. "I don't mind the snow, I guess. It's just something you get used to around here. It would be nice to have a little less of it, though. I hate being stuck in here like this, not knowing how long it'll last." Toothless shifted, moving a wing so Hiccup would be able to sit and lean against his side. The dragon watched his human closely as he moved, his eyes picking up subtle signs of discomfort: a slight tremor in his arms as he lowered himself to the floor; a grimace as he settled into place, stretching both legs before him. He couldn't help worrying about him. Hiccup was no dragon, he was a human. Humans were fragile.

The instant the boy was settled Toothless prodded his arm questioningly. 'Are you alright? Does it hurt?' Hiccup smiled and lifted his right arm, draping it across the dragon's head. The worry didn't leave, only lessened a little. He crooned softly, comfortingly, and earned another smile from his human. "It's okay..." They lapsed into silence, Hiccup seeming to have decided he didn't want to talk anymore. The boy and his dragon stared into the fireplace together.

Toothless sighed beneath Hiccup's scratching fingers, watching from the corner of his eye as the boy leaned back and stared dully at the ceiling. The Night Fury lazily closed his eyes, his mind wandering to the fingers playing over the base of his ears.

They were bigger than they used to be.

It was a realization that rose into the dragon's mind slowly, and as softly as the snow mounting outside the door. Those hands had been smaller - _Hiccup _had been smaller - the first time that Toothless had felt the gentle brush of fingers against his scales. It had been an odd feeling, having such close contact with the enemy, and he had not been sure how to feel about it at the time. He had watched the hatching stumble blindly through the dark. He had smelled his fear as distinctly as he now smelled the smoky wood of the fire.

Maybe that had been it. Toothless opened one eye, peeking silently at his human to see he'd been warmed enough to drift into a light sleep. The hatchling - he had not yet been his Hiccup all those years ago - had been small and defenseless and so very much afraid. It was a feeling the Night Fury knew well. He had watched as the Hiccup-hatchling had tripped at the base of the tree he watched from. The thing stared upward, looking startled, and slowly began to make small gasping sounds. The noise had confused Toothless._ 'Is it calling for help?' _he had wondered, looking around warily. No one had come, and the noises gave way to a wet face, although there was no rain that the dragon could see.

Toothless had felt the oddest sensation, as he perched looking down at that tiny human lying amid the leaves. He hadn't had a name for it, not then, but he now knew what it was to pity someone.

Then the thing had looked at him.

That had been it. In an instant he had been caught by the tearful, frightened eyes of a child. He had crawled to the hatchling, pushed it up, and nudged himself into its grasp. Common sense screamed at him to get away, to flee this unnatural contact, but a part of him begged him to stay and help this little thing that needed him. If he had known...Never would he have dreamed that the tiny hand pulling at his ear would one day again depend on him for stability, that he would treasure that little hatchling as if it were his own. He only knew that he needed to take him home, safely and quickly.

The darkness grew deeper as the dragon lead the child through the trees, every step drawing them closer to the warmly lit village from which Toothless was sure the child had come. It was not far. The hatchling had been going in circles, repeatedly missing the path in his panic. When they had come within sight of the village, a larger human shouting at the tree line, Toothless had drawn away and watched as the hatchling returned to his mother.

What had he felt then? A soft happiness had lingered in him through the rest of the night. It was similar to the contentment he presently felt, lounging with that very same hatchling next to a fire.

A soft murmur drew the dragon's attention away from his thoughts, and once more to the sleeping human. Hiccup was dreaming, probably about the girl, which happened often. Toothless gave a rumbling purr and curled his tail around the boy, the fanned fin resting across his legs. Whatever reason he'd had for helping him, it had turned out well. Toothless was happy, and he closed his eyes once more preparing to nap with his friend as the snow steadily piled higher against the door.

* * *

********

A/N I think I referred to Hiccup in twenty different ways....

Anyway, I think I forgot the disclaimer on the first chapter. You would think after doing this for nine years I'd remember things like that. So...

DISCLAIMER: As much as I love this duo here I don't own them in any way, shape or form. Their's Dreamworks'.

I don't usually reply to reviews within a story but because I was busy and didn't get to do so through the review replies I'll do it here.

**_Vague Notion_ - Aw, your review made me blush! It also made my day! You're so nice to say something like that. I'm glad that you liked the first chapter and hope that you'll like the rest that are coming!**

**_The Mad Shoe1_ - Me too. I think maybe some sort of prior contact would influence how their present relationship got started. Or maybe not. ^_^**

**_Alana-kittychan_ - ^_^ Yep! Thanks for taking the time to read it.**

**_keep-me-posted_ - Well, this answered your question, didn't it? Actually, I didn't really think about whether Toothless remembered that night until I read your review. I decided that he does.**

**_Maui Girl 808 _- Thank you. ^_^ I wanted to think of a way to sort of connect it to them now and show that it was actually Toothless and not some random Night Fury. It was probably pretty obvious anyway, though.**


	3. Beginnings

**This is short, I know, but the chapter lengths are going to vary.**

**I seem to be using young Hiccup a lot for this so far. That won't always be the case, of course, but for the moment it is. He's just too cute that way! ^_^**

**Updates between my stories may not alternate like I had wanted them to, but I'm sure no one will mind as long as they're happening, right? Speaking of _Taken,_ I'm considering having someone beta read it for me. I've never done that before (mostly because I am a slow writer) but so far I feel like it's not quite as good as my writing usually is. Would anyone be interested in doing this for me, either for just a chapter or two or for the entire story? I would appreciate the criticism. Chapter one is done, except for another little section I'd like to add.**

**I promise, my notes will not always be huge.**

* * *

**Beginnings**

"Now, what did we talk about?" Nervously, Stoick looked down at his son. The boy was clutching the edge of his cloak, staring wide-eyed at the small structure before them. He didn't seem to realize his father had spoken to him. Stoick sighed. "Hiccup!"

"Uh...yeah?" Startled out of his thoughts, he looked up at his father.

"What did we talk about at home this morning?"

"You're not supposed to eat the red mushrooms."

"The other thing, Hiccup."

"Um...oh!" The boy's eyes lit up as he remembered. "Do everything Gobber says and stay out of his way."

"And?"

"And...pay attention!"

"Right, good." Stoick felt a wave of relief. At least the boy had been paying _some_ attention to him. "There was one more thing."

"There was?" Hiccup frowned, thinking hard. A moment passed and he gave up, shrugging at his father. The man sighed and nudged him toward the forge.

"Just don't touch anything, Hiccup."

"'Kay."

The forge seemed quite dark after the weak sunlight and Hiccup found himself blinking as the place came into focus. Gobber looked up from where he was sharpening a blade. "Good morning."

"Gobber." Stoick nodded in greeting. "Thank you again for this."

"Oh, it's no problem. Good for the boy to have something to focus on." The blond Viking laid the blade aside and limped over to them. "Who knows? Might even put some muscle on him, eh Hiccup?" A smile spread over Hiccup's face. He couldn't help it. Gobber wasn't as rough around the edges as his father was and was usually nice to him. More so than everyone else was, anyway.

"Let's hope so." Stoick mumbled and laid a heavy hand against his son's reddish hair. "Work hard, son."

"I will, Dad."

"Let's see now..." His attention was pulled away from his father as Gobber began rummaging through the shelves around the walls. After a moment he pulled a small shovel and rake-like instrument out from under a pile of leather. "First thing you need to know: a clean fire burns brighter, it burns hotter, and it burns better." He held the instruments out to Hiccup, who took them eagerly and ran his fingers over them. "Clean out the grate. After that you can start getting this place a bit more organized."

"Right!" Thrilled, Hiccup turned to show his father the instruments, but the chief had already gone. Hiccup felt, for the briefest of moments, a slight disappointment before approaching the grate where a fire was burning. He was going to do this, and he was going to do it well.

* * *

An hour later he sat dejectedly next to Gobber, staring at the large blackened area of the floor that he had unintentionally set on fire. Gobber wasn't angry with him, which was a pleasant surprise, but the older Viking _did_ seem irritated. Hiccup blushed in shame as Gobber turned to him with a look that clearly said he wasn't surprised.

"Hiccup...when I said 'clean the grate' I meant to go around where the fire was burning, not pull the entire thing out onto the floor. Alright?"

"Yeah..." They sat in silence for a minute before Gobber sighed and clambered to his feet and limped away.

"Don't trouble yourself, boy. I needed a new floor anyway." Hiccup watched him go, a relieved smile tugging at his mouth. Things were going to be different, and he couldn't have been more excited.

* * *

**Alright, I'm not usually one to beg reviews, but there are a good number of people who have this collection on their favorites/alerts. I don't expect everyone to review every chapter but if you're going to do that could you _please_ review once in a while? Even if all you do is tell me what you had for dinner, I love hearing from people! At any rate, I appreciate everyone who's reading, whether you review or not!**

**Review Replies (that I totally meant to do outside of the fic):**

**Backroads - I was thinking about things that would have scared me as a child and thought that Hiccup, being so different from everyone already, might share some of that fear. I love snow. I was going for cozy (because who doesn't love curling up with someone like that?) and I'm glad it came out that way. I'm hoping to have other chapters dealing with snow and blizzards, especially since Berk is supposed to be so snow-prone. Hopefully you'll enjoy those chapters too!**

**Duchess Delanie - Aw, you make me blush. ^_^ I've seen another fic or two with blizzards that are much better than mine is. I can't remember what they were called, though. I had some indecision concerning how Toothless would have referred to Hiccup in his memory, knowing him but focusing on a time when he didn't know him. I think "Hiccup-hatchling" ended up being my favorite...and I really enjoyed telling the memory from two separate prespectives, I think it gives it more depth somehow.**

**Aiko-Chan SoT - Hiccup and Toothless drabbles are the best kind! XD And as for Toothless and the snow...that will probably come up in a future chapter, though I can't say how long it will take.**

**Tony WildRiver - I certainly am! Although, they won't all be connected like these first two were. I'm glad you like it enough to add it to your alerts and I look forward to hearing from you again!**

**BellatriD - Wow, your review was definitely enthusiastic!**

**Alana-kittychan - I love cuteness and try to use it a lot! Thanks again!**

**ECHO230 - "Beautiful?" I don't know if I'd go so far as to say that, but I'm glad you liked it. I think, as it mentions in the story, that Toothless certainly had the capacity for compassion but as he probably didn't have the need for it he wouldn't have known quite what it was. He's so intelligent, though, I'm sure he would have figured it out eventually.**


	4. The Universe is My Country

**I've taken far too long to update, I know. I've been fairly busy, though, with being out of town and some other stuff. Also, i am a little unsure about uploading this. I don't feel like it's done but I've read over it a million times.**

**I hope this is as awesome as it sounded in my head! With a prompt like this I was like "This has to be Toothless...and he has to be epic." So that's what I'm shooting for.**

* * *

**The Universe is My Country**

I have seen mountains, great towering spires of rock, broken at the crown and crumbling into pebbles where once they pierced the sky. I have mounted their peaks and stared into valleys made grand by the ancient trickling of water. Those valleys I have also walked, not as a stranger but a part of the life teeming from every crevice of the earth itself.

I have moved through the deep places of the world, amongst dark granite and glittering diamond. I have seen riches enough to buy any kingdom of man.

I have tread the surface of the sea and touched its dark depths, seen by none but the darting, silvered fish. When the earth and sea held no more that my eyes hadn't seen I left its oft-trodden paths and I saw the sky.

The mountains and valleys and seas became small as I knew more and more of the air and wind. I grew to love the in-between that came with flight. I was a part of everything I saw, but removed from it to the point that I was nothing but a spectator. To be untethered to any part of the world, to drift, is to feel a freedom unlike any other.

These things are mine. The Heavens and the Earth and all that lies in-between. Now, though, they are no longer mine alone. I am not the solitary creature I once was. Rather than seeing the world as I thought it was, I see it as it truly is: Beautiful, amazing and a hundred other things all at once. I feel it all anew as he experiences it for the first time. His joy and exhileration are contagious and I find myself eager, with each new day, to share more of the world. It is a change that has come suddenly but I find myself welcoming it. The universe that was once mine alone is now ours, and I treasure every part of it as if it were made for us.

* * *

**Short, I know. I was trying to sort of convey this feeling that Toothless has roamed a lot in his lifetime. I hope it came across well. *runs away to finish next chapter***


	5. Dayshapes of Dusk

**A chapter with little Hiccup again. I really like writing him, I don't know why I didn't do it more.**

* * *

_Let me go to the window,  
Watch there the day-shapes of dusk  
And wait and know the coming  
Of a little love._

* * *

Hiccup clung to the bottom of the small window, toes scraping the floor as he struggled to lift himself enough to see through the cloudy panes. The sun had almost set and a thick, gentle snow was falling over the village, giving the view a whitish, hazy look. He could see an occasional adult making their way through the village (a small blurry dot going from one big blurry dot to another). None so far had come up the hill toward the highest house in Berk.

Frowning, the boy let his fingers slip from the wood of the window sill and dropped to the floor. The house had been cold ever since the fire had burned itself out. Due to several past mishaps (including one that had left a charred hole in the middle of the floor) Hiccup wasn't allowed to handle fire without someone else there with him. While this restriction was safer for the house, it left him able to do nothing but sit and wait for someone to pass by who could restart it for him. Who knew how long that could take?

Hiccup wrapped his arms around himself and scurried through the darkness upstairs to the tiny room that was his. After a few minutes of groping in the darkness under his bed his fingers brushed against something fluffy. He pulled it out with a smile. His mother's cloak was one of the only things he had of her, and it never failed to lift his spirits as it stirred vague memories in the back of his mind.

He wished he could remember her better. Most of the time she felt like nothing more than a warm, enclosing presence that had once inhabited the house. Occasionally he thought he could remember her face, but it happened less and less often. Now he didn't try that often at all. Still, as he wrapped the cloak around himself and let the bottom hem fall to the floor, he felt the remnants of that warmth.

Still smiling to himself, he carefully went back downstairs and to the window. His small fingers worked the pin that held the cloak around him, making sure it was secure before he once again hoisted himself up to the window. The added weight of the cloak made it considerably more difficult to stay up and in a few seconds he found himself slipping back down again. Annoyed, he put all his strength into it, clinging as hard as he could with his fingers. His smile grew wider.

Dark against the white snow, a figure was trudging up the hill. There was no mistaking the broad shoulders and thick cloak of Stoick the Vast. Hiccup watched a few more moments as his father drew closer, then dropped and ran to unbar the door. Stoick entered with a burst of cold air. Fat flakes of snow clung to his beard and bushy eyebrows, giving him a frosty look that made him seem much older.

"Hi Dad." Stoick merely grunted in reply. "How'd everything go?"

"The Thorstons' place is done. Those terrors'll probably have it burned down again before the next attack, though. They're spirited, they are." He chuckled under his breath, no doubt thinking of the possibilities the future held for the twins. Hiccup merely pursed his lips and nodded. He knew how "spirited" Ruffnut and Tuffnut were. He'd gotten enough bruises from them.

Stoick shook himself, dislodging bits of wet snow and causing Hiccup to step back to avoid it. "Dad, I know you just got back but...the fire?"

"Huh?" As if noticing for the first time, he frowned at the darkness of the room. "Right, the fire. Glad to see you listened."

"And nearly froze to death."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Dad. Here." Hiccup went back to the window, picking a small box up from the floor. it was the flint and tinder they kept for lighting the fire. He'd found it ahead of time to save his father the trouble of looking for it. Stoick grunted again as he took the tiny box from his son and felt his way to the hearth.

"It's a wonder you didn't kill yourself in here. Can't see a thing..." Hiccup stood back and watched as tiny bursts of sparks jumped from his father's hands. A few moments later a small fire was beginning to grow. Stoick fed it and leaned back with a sigh. "There. That's better then, isn't it?"

"Uh-huh."

"How was you day?" Stoick pulled a stool closer to the fire and Hiccup did the same, sitting happily at his father's side.

"It was okay."

"Anything good happen?"

"Not really. I stayed here most of the day."

"Did you eat?"

"Yeah." Stoick fell quiet and the only sound between them was the crackling of the fire. Hiccup buried his nose in the fur of the cloak he'd wrapped in and sighed. "What is that?" He looked up to see Stoick looking at him with an odd expression on his face.

"What?"

"That. Where did it come from?" He gestured to the cloak.

"I-It's Mom's..." For a long moment they looked at each other, Hiccup waiting to see what his father would say. He turned back to the fire and spoke without looking at Hiccup.

"Put it away."

"But-"

"Put it away, Hiccup."

Hiccup frowned, but obeyed his father. He slowly went back to his room and stowed the cloak away, lingering in it's warmth as long as he could. When he returned downstairs, his father had taken his own cape and draped it over his son's stool. Hiccup sat down again at his father's side and wrapped himself in the cape. It was very warm, but his smile was gone .

* * *

**I feel like the mood in this changes too quickly. I also like it though, so I couldn't decide whether to change it or not. This is a while after Valhallarama's death, but poor Stoick still isn't over it.**


	6. Our Star is Fading

**I had completely forgotten, but this chapter was originally written in Japanese. I did it partly for practice, but also because I'm always nervous that people sitting near me will try to read over my shoulder. Heh. Anyway, I've translated it instead of throwing it out there to see what you guys do with it (and believe me that was tempting!). This chapter is pretty sad, although this sort of thing was more common in the past than it is today.**

* * *

_Our star is fading._

* * *

The child was so small. Hiccup looked down at it, and there were tears in his eyes. Astrid was silent.

"Sorry...I'm sorry," she said. Hiccup looked at her as if he weren't actually seeing her.

"Why? You didn't do anything," he said.

"Yes...I did."

"Astrid...you _didn't _do anything. You couldn't. No one could." They fell into silence once more. Slowly, Hiccup noticed a soft sound beside him. It was unfamiliar. It became louder and he felt the pangs of sorrow in his chest. Hiccup stood up, just so he could be doing something. "The baby...do you want to hold it?" She fell silent. "Astrid?"

"It can't be! The baby...It's not dead! It can't be dead!" Hiccup stared at Astrid. The child was still and silent in his arms. Silent...and dead.

Hiccup couldn't do anything. Astrid continued to weep.

The sound of it broke his heart. 

* * *

**This chapter is pretty sad, although this sort of thing was more common in the past than it is today. I know this doesn't flow like the other chapters. Blame it on the original format.**

**Anyway, does anybody really doubt that these two are pretty much ending up married? The only other girl to pick from is Ruff, and while she's awesome I don't think Hiccup would survive a relationship like that.**


	7. A Life Looked Back Upon with Regret

**I don't remember what prompt I used to write this. It might have been the same as the previous chapter.**

* * *

Hiccup almost wished his father wasn't so hardy. Seeing him reducing to a "doddering old fool" as he liked to call himself was depressing. The once great chieftain now spent his days sitting by the fire and meandering through the village with his cane, his steps slow and unsure. He felt like an entirely different person to Hiccup. Despite being glad that his father was still with them, there were times when Hiccup couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for him.

The feeling hit him anew, as it always did, as he quietly opened the door to his father's house, where he had once lived himself. Stoick, who has been dozing in front of a dying fire, stirred at his approach. "Hey, Dad."

"Hiccup! How are things?"

"Oh, you know, been looking into some rumors of ship sightings off toward the east; deciding who gets to keep which sheep; the usual."

"Good, good." Stoick smiled, watching as Hiccup added several new logs to the fire and stoked it into a blaze. "And how are things at home, then? I haven't been out much lately."

"Great, actually. Uh, we think Astrid might be expecting again."

"Really now? Well that's wonderful, Hiccup! You two...like a couple o' Terrors you are! How many is this, then?" Hiccup flushed a little at that. Once dragons had become a part of life in Berk, they had discovered that the small dragons reproduced quickly. Stoick was smiling at him is a way that implied he was proud of the comparison.

"Actually, this will be the second. We won't be sure for a few more weeks." The old Viking's face fell a little.

"Oh? Well, it's still good news either way. Plenty more to come as well, eh stud?"

"So how are you feeling?"

"Miserable." Stoick sighed, either not noticing the change of subject or choosing to let it go. "But then, it's never sunshine and daisies around here, is it?"

"Not usually."

Stoick smiled again and scratched his snowy beard. "You're a good boy, Hiccup. " For a moment Hiccup merely looked at his father. Those were words he'd heard over the years, but not often. "You're doing well and you're more level-headed than when you were young. You're a fine chief."

"Uh...thanks, Dad." They sat for a moment in silence. "So, what brought this on?"

"Nothing to worry yourself with. Just been thinking."

"What? You?" Hiccup quipped and earned a soft chuckle from his father.

"Well, not much else to do, is there? Don't worry about it. Just the ramblings of a doddering old fool." They sat quietly staring into the fire. Stoick scratched his chin through his beard and Hiccup watched the shadows that flickered away from the light of the flames. After some time he sighed.

"I should probably go soon. Lout's in charge of the new flying group. I haven't checked in to make sure they're all surviving and all that." He stood and stretched, reluctant to leave the warmth of the hearth. "You feel like going to the hall for dinner? We can come by and walk with you. It's on the way, anyway."

"Sounds good. You know, if we start now we might make it there by the time everyone else is leaving," he guffawed hoarsely and Hiccup smiled. Now that Stoick no longer had the welfare of the village weighing on him, he laughed more. It was a welcome sound that Hiccup was always glad to hear.

"I guess we'll have to wait and see how our luck holds out." Stoick chuckled at this, apparently not finding it as amusing as his own joke. "Alright, I'll be back soon, I guess." Hiccup turned to go, but a hand on his arm stopped him. He looked back to see his father looking at him.

Stoick smiled again and Hiccup frowned at how old his father suddenly looked. He could see the wrinkles hidden beneath the beard and knew they were too many to count. But Stoick was smiling at him and he found he wanted to return it honestly.

Briefly, Stoick's grip on his arm tightened and his smile fell. "You were always a good boy, Hiccup."

* * *

**With the way of life changing in Berk I'm sure more of them would have made it to old age. Sometimes that's hard to see. I imagine it could also be hard to deal with, with an entire lifetime of things to look back on and regret.**


	8. House and Home

**Tomorrow is going to be rather busy for me (family plans and HARRY POTTER! XD) so I thought that I should go ahead and upload something tonight since I probably won't get to it if I wait.**

Young Stoick and Gobber...I'd like to see these two more, I think.

* * *

_Your house is your larger body. It grows in the sun and sleeps in the stillness of the night; and it is not dreamless._

* * *

Stoick and Gobber stood looking up at the hillock that overlooked the whole village. An assortment of hammers and leftover timber were scattered in the grass at their feet. Stoick gave a satisfied chuckle.

"It's nice work," Gobber said. He jovially slapped his friend on the shoulder. "We're pretty good at this."

"But do you think Val will like it?" Gobber resisted the urge to roll his eyes. His friend's intended, Valhallarama, was the sort of girl who appreciated what she had, but Stoick had a tendency to worry about making her happy anyway.

"Stoick, it's the biggest house in the entire village. She'lll love it, and if she don't...well, you're going to becaome chief soon. We'll build a better one for you."

"You're right. You're right. I'm just nervous, I suppose. Val's quite a woman."

"Aye, she is." They stood admiring their work in the evenng light. It was getting dark. Come morning, Stoick would move his few belongings from his parents' home into this one. Come evening, he would be married. Homes tended to not last very long on Berk. It was likely that they would only have a few months in this one, a year at the most. Even so, Stoick could see them there years from now, children running through the door, smoke curling cheerfully from the chimney.

Their lives were ahead of them, and this is where they would play out. Whether it was this house or the next, this was where he would dream of coming home when he was voyaging. It was where he would come home to Val's open arms at the end of the day. It was where he hoped he would settle down quietly with his wife after passing down the role of chief.

This was where he wanted to be.


	9. This Fragrance

_From which tree's blossom  
It comes, I do not know  
This fragrance_

* * *

FIshlegs was wondering how he had managed to get into this situation. They were gathered on one of the firetowers, as they often were when the weather was nice. They huddled together against the dark, easch roasting their dinner in the fire. This was all fine, perfectly normal way to spend an evening in Berk.

What worried Fishlegs was the seating arrangements.

Somehow he had gotten wedged up against Ruffnut. Thery were uncomfortably close. One wrong move could send either of them flying. Okay, maybe that's slightly exaggerrated, but Fishlegs definitely felt like he was about to fall off the bench. There was just too much near contact between them for his taste.

She did smell good, though. He noticed this the third time she turned her head and smacked him in the shoulder with one of her braids. He had no idea what it was he was smelling, he'd never become that familiar with the blossoming plants around the island. They were very pretty, but useless unless you wanted to dye something.

For one wild moment he almost asked her what it was. That would surely get him a black eye. He knew better than to question Ruff's toughness by implying she was girly in some way.

His mind took hold of this thought and began to entertain all sorts of unpleasant scenarios. Ruffnut holding him down and pulling out his nosehairs, being chased by a Zippleback almost as scary as the girl egging it on, getting shoved into the fire in front of them. So vivid were these ideas in his mind that Fishlegs was only vaguely aware of what his mouth was doing.

He saw Ruff turn to him, an eyebrow raised questioningly at him. His mouth kept moving, even though his brain was trying to force itself to stop. She was giving him a bored look.

"W-What's that smell?"

"What?" She looked confused. Confused and pretty good smelling. He wasn't sure how someone could _look _like they smelled good, but she did. She was still staring at him.

"That, uh smell..."

"Oh!" Her eyes widened in sudden realization and she grinned. "Sorry, I got it." She turned to smack Tuffnut on the back of the head. Scowling at her in confusion, he swore and turned back to the fire .

Fishlegs was still squeezed against Ruffnut. He focused on the cod he was roasting, and kept his lips pressed together as firmly as he could. 

* * *

**I've never really been a big shipper for these two, but they are fun to write.**


	10. Between Girls

**I'm running low on things to upload. There are a couple of chapters, but nothing finished yet. Also, I'm working on a new fic. If any of you are Slayers fans keep an eye out for it!**

* * *

**Between Girls**

* * *

Astrid found Ruffnut hiding in a tree two miles outside the village. She was dusty and scratched from tearing through the forest. One pigtail had been ripped loose after getting snagged on a branch. Kinks of golden hair bobbed against her cheek as she looked sourly down at Astrid. "Here to make me go home like a good little girl?" she asked quietly. Her voice lacked its usual snarl.

"You know that's not why I'm here." Easily, Astrid scaled the large trunk, reaching Ruffnut in a matter of seconds. Ruffnut shifted to make room for her. For several moments they were quiet, listening to the forest around them and staring at their dangling feet.

"I'm sorry," Astrid said, breaking the silence. Ruffnut's head lifted and she glared at her friend.

"What for? S'not like you did anything."

"I know..."

And that better not have been pity." Astrid looke at her. Ruffnut's face had broken into an angry, splotchy shade of red. Astrid forced a laugh to placate her.

"Of course not!"

"Good."

"Besides," Astrid smiled, trying to offer reassurance. "It's really not that bad, being married."

* * *

**I can see Ruff stubbornly hiding to avoid this, as well as Astrid being the more level-headed of the two and going to calm her down.**


End file.
